(The Hagins have had several Chryslers over the years but they've
all been large and ponderous. Matt Hagin likes the newer nimble versions
but his dad Bob sometimes longs for those Chrysler Behemoths.)

MATT - Chrysler is a name that's been around for a long time, Dad,
and while the marque saw some pretty rough times in the '70s and '80s,
it's well out of the woods now and has taken a fairly good sized bite
out of the mid-sized car market. The new Cirrus that we tried is typical
of the target marketing that the parent Chrysler Corporation is
concentrating on. It's no longer offering the Cirrus with a smaller
engine or in a scaled-down version and the single model is the LXi. Last
year the same car could be bought in a less expensive and less fancy LX
trim and the standard engine was a 2.4 liter four-banger, but that's
been dropped for '98. Chrysler is going after the mid-sized, mid-powered
sedan buyer and doesn't want him or her to get confused by offering a
less fancy model.

BOB - The only engine that the Cirrus comes with now is a
Mitsubishi-built V6 that puts out 168 horsepower and enough torque to
pull its 3200 pounds along at a pretty good rate. It's relatively
uncomplicated with a single camshaft on each of the aluminum heads and a
cast iron block. The suspension systems front and rear are rather
sophisticated in that they feature unequal length arms with sway bars
rather that the MacPherson struts that are popular with other cars it
its class. They provide very good handling despite the fact that the
Cirrus wasn't designed to be a sports sedan.

MATT - But the amazing thing about this sedan is the amount of
interior space that it provides. Three is back is still a crowd, but if
they're tall, they're going to find that they have plenty of leg room.
It handles very well for a car in this boulevard-ride class though the
15-inch touring tires probably help its roadability. I was disappointed
that Chrysler dropped the full-sized spare tire this year in favor of
one of those space-saver compact units but I understand from a separate
source that research showed that in most cases, the original spare never
left the trunk.

BOB - Our car came standard with a lot of "goodies." Cruise control
is standard, and so is the anti-lock brake system, but it would have
been more impressive if the rear brakes had been discs like the ones up
front. Last year, there was an integrated child's seat offered as an
option, but it didn't prove to be popular with Cirrus buyers. Chrysler
does its homework very well and is on top of what sells and what
doesn't.

MATT - The outstanding interior space in the Cirrus can be
attributed to the now-familiar "cab-forward" design that Chrysler
pioneered several years ago. It pushes the wheels as far out to the
corners of the car as possible and that stretching extends into the
engine room. The battery is located up ahead of the left wheel and is
actually more under the fender than under the hood. As well as being a
typical mid-sized family car, the Cirrus qualifies as the archetypical
corporate car for up-and-coming mid-management executives. It's classy,
and inexpensive to run at 28 miles per gallon, goes from 0 to 60 in 9
seconds, and is good for 120 MPH according to the Chrysler specification
sheet that came with the car. The Cirrus is one of a trio of Chrysler
sedans that share a common chassis platform. One of its corporate
stablemates is the Dodge Stratus which is an upscale sporting version
and can be had with a twin-cam four-banger and a five-speed
transmission. The Plymouth Breeze is the "economy" version, and can be
had with the twin-cam four-cylinder engine as well.

BOB - This Cirrus is nice, but sometimes I miss those big Chrysler
"land barges" that we had as family cars when you were a little guy,
Matt. They had something that these new cars lack.

MATT - I know what it was, Dad. Even though they were sedans, they
were big enough to hold all seven of us kids, as well as the dogs we
insisted on bring with us. I hope my kids don't pull that on me.